Letter from Olive Hazlett

Mr. Maynard Brichford
University Archivist
Room 19, The Library
The University of Illinois
Urbana, Illinois 61803

My dear Mr. Maynard:-

On the eighteenth, I received your letter requesting "evidence and information with respect to my
contributions through research to intellectual, social and economic history of our times" and
thank you. Unfortunately, some of the evidence is not now available to me and a good deal of it
has been destroyed. I will try to give the gist of my contributions and also tell you where you can
find copies of my articles in mathematics. My research separates into two distinct periods and,
corresponding, into two very different kinds.

Having received my graduate training in the Department of Mathematics and Astronomy of the
University of Chicago (chiefly under Professors E.H.Moore and L.E.Dickson, writing my theses
under the latter), it was inevitable that I should continue research in algebra: linear algebras,
nilpotent algebras, matrices, quaternions, division algebras; modular invariants and convariants
in a Galois Field, GF(p^n), of order p^n --- both formal and otherwise; and ideals of a matric
algebra. The resulting papers were published in "Bulletin of the American Mathematical
Society", Transactions of the A.M.S", "Annals of Mathematics", "Journal of Mathematics", and
"Journal de Mathematique Pure et Appliquée" as well as in "Proceedings of the International
Mathematical Congress" (Toronto, 1923(?)...not sure of year) and "Atti del Congresso
Internazionale dei Matematici" (Bologna, 1928). If, perchance, anyone should wish titles, etc., he
will find them in the annual lists of published papers in the Bulletin for the respective years.
Since these lists are restricted to papers given before some meeting of the A.M.S., one would
have to look in the above "Proceedings" and "Atti" to references to them.

Possibly pertinent to your interest in my research would be the fact that I did refereeing of
research papers in above lines of algebra offered for publication to Transactions of A.M.S.,
Annals of Math., and (I think) Journal of Math. For some years, I was an Associate Editor of the
Transactions of the A.M.S., a research journal. Also, I wrote the article on Quaternions for the
Encyclopedia Britannica (14'th Ed.).---Around 1930, the International Assoc. of Univ. Women
formed a committee to award fellowships and I was made the judge of any math. MS submitted
to it.

In the fall of 1940, Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt sent me an autographed copy of "Victory: How
Women Won It...1840-1940" and included with it a program of the Women's Centennial
Congress (25-27 November, at Hotel Commodore, N.Y.C.). Also included was a list of about a
hundred living women who were described as "outstanding career women" and I was one. She
wrote asking me to address a meeting of the Women Suffrage Association (or something of the
sort) in Danville (I think it was). Feeling that I had no right to leave my job long enough for the
trip, I declined. Since then, I have regretted that I did not go.

All the above is concerned with my research in pure mathematics and appointments and the like
that grew out of that interest. Then in 1940 came the second World War and I found myself
caught up in its tentacles. The Amer. Math. Soc. appointed a Cryptanalysis Committee with (as I
recall) five members of whom Prof. A.A.Albert of the University of Chicago was chairman and
Commander H.T.Engstrom the military (and hence the most important) member. Later, they
apparently added some members and I was one of them. Accordingly, I had entrusted to me
several classified military documents of the U.S.Signal Corps.

----
Footnote: This meant that I had to exercise great caution as to their safety. Naturally, as a naive
self-protection, I told the head of my department about the work and the documents, showing
him the letter from Commander Engstrom. Otherwise, I did not mention documents or work to a
soul except to an officer of the U.S.S.C. or to the F.B.I. when need arose. I never had them in my
office at Univ. and I used them only in my apartment which I shared only with a loyal dog. If the
door-bell rang when I was working with them, I quickly scuttled them out of sight and reach,
replacing them with innocent stuff (research in progress) in algebra that was waiting. At my
summer place (this), I had installed a Diebold Treasure Chest with triple-combination lock and
then changed combinations single-handed.
----

It so happened that one of my ideas was, apparently, the bit that was featured by Commdr.
Enstrom when he gave this preliminary report to the A.M.S. at the Museum of Science and
Industry in Chicago in the spring 1943 or 1944.--- Later, they suggested that I go to D.C. to make
certain contacts and I so did on my way back to my job in early fall of 1944. [Of all my various
reports, I kept a carbon copy, sent original "registered, return receipt requested" and then burned
my copy in a galvanized iron pail, pouring ashes down toilet.] It so happened that one of my
ideas was, apparently, the one featured in the preliminary report of the Cryptanalysis Committee
made by Commander Engstrom to meeting of A.M.S at Museum of Science and Industry in
Chicago in spring of (1943 or) 1944.

[Remainder of letter omitted]

Sincerely yours,

(Miss) O.C.Hazlett,
Associate Professor of Mathematics, Emerita,
The University of Illinois.

This is a correction of a mistake that I made in my letter to you dated 23 February, 1964. On
page 3 (in note for page 2), I said that I did not mention the fact that I was doing a bit of work
with the Signal Corps or that I had had loaned to me by them some classified documents except
to an officer of U.S.S.C. or to F.B.I. when need arose. Very recently, I have remembered that I
did mention both facts a few times for what, at the time, seemed adequate reasons. For example:

Shortly after battle of Coral Sea, to Gerald E. Moore, Ph.D. then (as I recall) Assistant Professor
of Math., The University of Illinois, Urbana, Ill. Much later, when living here, to Roger Adams,
Ph.D. (Harvard), Professor of Chemistry, The Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois.

Of these two men, the former was in my department and I had reason to think him loyal and
discreet as well as intelligent. The latter, I had known since the beginning of my freshman year at
Radcliffe when he was lab. assistant in chemistry at Radcliffe. That was 1909-1910. Needless to
say, I had reason to believe him loyal, intelligent and discreet.